Exergetic Analysis, Optimization and Comparison of LNG Cold Exergy Recovery Systems for Transportation

LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) shares in the global energy market is steadily increasing. One possible application of LNG is as a fuel for transportation. Stricter air pollution regulations and emission controls have made the natural gas a promising alternative to liquid petroleum fuels, especially in the case of heavy transport. However, in most LNG-fueled vehicles, the physical exergy of LNG is destroyed in the regasification process. This paper investigates possible LNG exergy recovery systems for transportation. The analyses focus on “cold energy” recovery systems as the enthalpy of LNG, which may be used as cooling power in air conditioning or refrigeration. Moreover, four exergy recovery systems that use LNG as a low temperature heat sink to produce electric power are analyzed. This includes single-stage and two-stage direct expansion systems, an ORC (Organic Rankine Cycle) system, and a combined system (ORC + direct expansion). The optimization of the above-mentioned LNG power cycles and exergy analyses are also discussed, with the identification of exergy loss in all components. The analyzed systems achieved exergetic efficiencies in the range of 20% to 36%, which corresponds to a net work in the range of 214 to 380 kJ/kgLNG.